As part of its Orbiter Year-Round Series, Other Worlds Austin SciFi Film Festival is thrilled to present the Texas premiere of the SciFi horror/comedy DAVE MADE A MAZE on Wednesday, July 19 (7:30pm) at Flix Brewhouse. Producer John Charles Meyer will be in attendance and will do a Q&A after the screening.

In the highly inventive film, Dave, an artist who has yet to complete anything significant in his career, builds a fort in his living room out of pure frustration, only to wind up trapped by the fantastical pitfalls, booby traps, and critters of his own creation.

Co-Writer/Director, Bill Watterson’s feature debut re-imagines classic 80s adventure films with a modern comedic edge and a higher body count. The handmade fantasy world comes to life with puppetry, stop-motion animation, and in-camera optical illusions. More than 30,000 square feet of donated/scrap cardboard was used in the creation of more than 20 unique sets.

“DAVE MADE A MAZE is the kind of film that only comes around once in a decade (and more than likely once in a filmmaker’s life),” says Bears Fonté, OWA Founder and Artistic Director. “Handcuffed by budgetary restraints but blessed with total control and willing (and often free) collaborators, Watterson incorporates every crazy thought he can into the film, producing a collage of filmmaking styles that echo’s Dave’s own mind all in service of a beautiful unified goal.”

“We wanted to play in the sandbox,” explains co-writer/director, Bill Waterson, “of old-school practical effects – puppetry, stop motion animation, cut paper animation, and optical illusions – to reignite that tactile sense of wonder from the movies of my childhood. When you watch a Harryhausen film, or a Henson creation, the creatures are hypnotic and magical because they’re real; they have real texture, depth, weight, and life. We built a team of artists whose hands would be apparent throughout the process; we wanted to see the pencil lines, the excess glue, the imperfection of a creative mind at work. That had to be baked into the production design for the world to seem real and relevant.”

“Bill Watterson’s film is a triumph of design and creativity,” says Fonté. “It taps into failure anxiety that so many people in their mid-

“DAVE MADE A MAZE is an unforgettable theatrical experience that I can't wait to share with our audience,” says Dan Repp, OWA Senior Programmer and Event Director. “It is one of the most creative films I have ever seen. My inner child was brought out by its sense of adventure and my mind was challenged by its depth of subtext.”

DAVE MADE A MAZE has won the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature at Slamdance (2017); the Grand Jury Award for Best Narrative Feature at Florida Film Festival (2017); the Best Feature Film at Omaha Film Festival (2017), and more.

●GASMASK (Writer: Pablo Bonelli) -- A scavenger in a ravaged wasteland comes across a house deep in the woods, and a family that doesn’t take kindly to strangers. Eventually, they invite him in for food, but nothing is as it seems.

●JOHN THE CARPENTER (Writer: Matt Braunsdorf) -- After a car accident throws his sister Anna into conflict with a terrifying monster, John constructs a trap to revenge his sister’s sacrifice.

●THE PIG CHILD (Dir. Lucy Campbell) -- A female scientist working in embryology carries out an illegal surrogacy using her own body, part human and part pig. Discovering that she is carrying a "pig child," she is torn between her scientific drive and maternalistic urges. [winner of the 2016 Mary Shelley Award]

●THUMP (Director: Whit Spurgeon) -- In the middle of the night, things should be quiet. Sometimes things go thump.

The event kicks off in the taproom at 6 pm with board games, and the film program starts at 8 pm sharp. Bring your favorite horror (or SciFi) board game and hang out. Delta Green, Arkham Horror, Dead of Winter and Killer Bunnies and the Quest for the Magic Carrot are some of our favorites!

We’ll have a couple of our own games as well, but bring your favorites to share! 4th Tap is offering $3 Long Walk Grapefruit IPA all night. Austin Taste Us Food Truck Austin Taste Us will be onsite offering tasty tacos and sliders until 9:30 pm.

By DON ELFANT —As part of the agreement to screen Texas Premiere DAVE MADE A MAZE as part of our Orbiter Series (July 19th, 7:30pm, Buy Tickets HERE), OWA founder, Bears Fonte, has approved a rescue mission to help save Dave from his maze. But he said not all staff members can go on the mission—who will be left to run the festival?

He has tasked Dan Repp, Senior Programmer and Event Director, with interviewing OWA staff to determine who goes into the maze. First up is Don Elfant, Director of Marketing and Development.

Dan Repp: So why should I take you on this dangerous rescue mission?

Don Elfant: You shouldn’t. I’d be terrible. Are we done?

Repp: Hold on, hold on! We need a good team to save Dave. Don’t you want to save Dave?

Elfant: Oh, I’d love to, but I have a thing…

Repp: A thing?! Come on, a person’s life is at stake!

Elfant: I really can’t. I have a fear… a fear of… cardboard.

Repp: Cardboard? Who has a fear of cardboard? Is that even a thing?

Elfant: Yes. It’s called Papyrophobia. Technically, the fear of paper, but I have the carboard subset. If I just touch a cardboard box, I break out into hives. Christmas Day is a nightmare.

Repp: But what about Dave? He’s trapped in a cardboard hell! A fort gone wrong! An aMAZing labyrinth!

Elfant: Oof, that’s a terrible pun.

Repp: Sorry.

Elfant: Yeah, that really undercut the seriousness of your message.

Repp: I understand. But can we get back to Dave? He needs our help.

Elfant: He made his own mess. Who told him to build a giant fort in his living room? And then gets lost in it? Who does that?

Repp: He’s having some issues.

Elfant: Well, I have my own issues. I’m not going near that cardboard house of horrors.

Repp: Papyrophobia, huh?

Elfant: I’m also afraid of gum. Chiclephobia. Seriously. Google it.

Cream and Sugar with That?

By Michael Thielvoldt — Still interviewing for the mission into the maze, Dan has tracked Michael to a posh East Side coffee shop. The interior of the shop is dark with heavy slashes of dusty light cutting up the space. Plants hang from the ceiling while velvet paintings and sepia toned photographs decorate the exposed brick facades of the walls.

Flix Brewhouse Profile: Meet Kiki Whatley, Brewer

By Debbie Cerda — New developments are in store for OWA, as well as for Flix, including welcome addition Kiki Whatley, Assistant Brewer. If I had to compare Kiki to a SciFi film character, it would be my favorite female SciFi character Ellen Ripley of the ALIEN franchise -- competent, smart, resilient, willing to step up to any challenges, and ready to kick ass.

After Danielle's Party

By Bears Fonte — “I said you were perfect. But I was wrong. You were perfectly flawed.” I couldn’t quite understand what he meant so I just watched as he opened up a cabinet and produced a revolver. What a dick. But I couldn’t respond. So I just said “I want to tell you how rude that is to say to a girl but for some reason I can’t bring myself to do it. I can only say it in this round about way.” He smiled broadly.